My Year of Darwin 5/1/2014: Nutria, are you fur real?

"The zoology of these broken islets of the Chonos Archipelago is, as might have been expected, very poor. Of quadrapeds two aquatic kinds are common. The Myopotamus coypus (live a beaver but this a round tail) is well known from its fine fur, which is an object of trade throughout the tributaries of La Plata" Charles Darwin,Voyage of the Beagle.

I know this species, as do many other gringos, as Nutria, which were introduced into Louisiana and spread throughout the Gulf states. Nutria were introduced to complement the muskrat in the hay-days of fur trapping. The species succeeded where the fur industry did not. When I lived in Louisiana, I went to a number of events with LA Wildlife and Fisheries folks trying to popularize nutria meat. Yea, not so much. One incentive for getting rid of the species is the fact that this species burrows into the sides of the levee that hold back the Mississippi.

It was my understanding that it was legal to discharge a firearm from your vehicle if shooting a nutria. I even remember a picture of (notorious) New Orleans Sheriff Harry Lee shooting a nutria from his squad car. 

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Busy week as students wrap up their student careers. When to the biology capstone presentation and the Earth and Environmental Science capstone presentations. Great stuff but so long.